FARMERFOCUS
FARMERFOCUS
Sue & Andy Guy
Sue and Andy Guy farm
79ha (196 acres) on an
FBT in Notts. They are
expanding their 76-cow
pedigree high health status
Holstein herd which
averages 6900 litres
COWS are looking at grass over the yard gates and it is nitrogen time again.
We took the dogs for a long walk around the farm last week to assess which fields need rolling and where trees have fallen and squashed fences. Our terrier ran all the way, chasing hares in every field and after two hours at full speed he was so exhausted that he slept all afternoon.
We wonder what the implications for a young enthusiastic dog will be if the hunting with dogs bill is passed this time. Will we have to walk him on a lead and start trapping rats instead of the nightly check of the yards with him and the air pistol?
Anyway, after our walk we headed back with plenty to think about. Ten hectares (25 acres) of an old red clover ley looks nearly worn out and we will oversow it with Westerwolds at 30kg/ha (12kg/acre) for this season. Then we will plough it up for maize next year.
Our soil samples indicate that most of the silage fields are index 1 or 2 for P and K. The grazing fields are 3 or 4.
We had samples of muck and dirty water analysed and calculated residual nutrients from previous cropping and muck. Allowing for these will save us over £2000 on fertiliser.
The dirty water lagoons hold about 2.3m litres and contain a surprising amount of nutrients. There is 1.2t of nitrogen, 340kg of phosphorus and 2.2t of potash, altogether worth nearly £900. We plan to spread it on to silage aftermaths in May.
This year we have had some trouble with the dirty water "irritator" as it has been christened. There has been one breakdown after another. Fortunately, the weather has been kind and lagoons are not too full, so the unreliability has not caused embarrassment.
By the time this is in print, silage ground will have received 120kg/ha N (96 units/acre). Grazing will get 60kg/ha (48 units/acre) to start it off followed by a further 60kg/ha (48 units/acre) after the cows have gone out. Clover leys only receive P and K, although one field has had enough farmyard manure to supply all it needs. *